Urban Design Tip of the Week (#12): Don’t draw precinct boundaries along a street.
Where notably different land uses face each other across a street, this results in a confused street identity and, potentially, functional conflicts such as traffic and noise. The attractiveness of properties on both sides can suffer as a result.
Different built form characters on opposite sides of a street create an incoherent streetscape character.
Instead, plan for changes in use or built form character to occur at the rear of properties. Perpendicular streets can also comfortably accommodate different uses or characters.
Principal Planner at CDP Town Planning & Urban Design
7yThe issue of scale between built form, however, is sometimes better managed across the 'divide' of a street.
Director at Urbis | President of VPELA
7yThanks Stephen, and I agree with you about parks, schools and civic buildings.
City Planning Advisor at the Department of Municipalities and Transport
7yThis is very good advice. Although it should be noted that there are a few exceptions: parks, schools and some other civic uses should have residential facing across the street. I note too that Mark's illustration is very similar to DPZ's transect-based planning SmartCode - great minds think alike, even at opposite sides of the globe.